


The Days Before. (Annie Leonhart/Reader)

by wlw__bloom



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Death, F/F, Manga & Anime, Military Police, Minor changes if necessary, Protective Annie Leonhart, Romance, Sad, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan Manga Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29936025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wlw__bloom/pseuds/wlw__bloom
Summary: After visiting Annie in her crystal, your mind wanders back to the days before everything changed for the worse.Everything was better back then.
Relationships: Annie Leonhart & Reader, Annie Leonhart/Reader, Annie Leonhart/You, Connie Springer & Reader, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Marco Bott & Jean Kirstein, Mikasa Ackerman & Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager & Reader, Sasha Blouse & Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse & Reader
Comments: 18
Kudos: 77





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is long overdue, but please let me explain!!! I hit a stump after re-reading the Manga which drove me into insanity(😀 i’m fine)... Anyways, instead of a Modern AU i’ve decided to follow the Manga, so there will be spoilers! Take caution. Not too much until the manga finishes since it’ll go back and forth to the cadet days and the current time in the manga. Anyways it’ll be kinda sad :( but sometimes you can’t always have a happy ending but i will be giving your happy memories! yay. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy! <3 bloom

Year: 855  
Current time

“When did everything have to get so complicated?” You asked out loud, knowing that no one would answer. You were alone in a underground prison, of course no one would answer. The only person you really wanted an answer from was still inside her crystal. You’d like to convince yourself that she could at least hear you.

You stared at the crystal that she enclosed herself in, her expression the same as when you first saw her. 

Indifferent. 

You were sitting on the hard brick floor, staring at the girl you had always wanted to be closer with and was for a short amount of time. You tucked your knees into your chest, still staring at her figure. You couldn’t help but admire her.

She looked so peaceful, and not imitating. She just looked so... Beautiful. 

“I hate that I don’t know you as well as I thought I did.” You stated, glaring at the ground. You were mad at yourself. You're mad that you claimed to know Annie better than everyone, but that wasn't the case. Coming to see her after trying your best to ignore what had happened made that clear.

You let out a loud sigh. “Now that I look back at it, you were such a closed-off person but... I thought you were different with me. You told me things... Was everything between us even real?”

The room was quiet. You smacked yourself, running your fingers through your hair shortly after. You were slightly irritated. You were anxious, even though you knew she wouldn’t be able to say anything or hear you but still. Seeing her again, made your heartache.

“I’m going insane!” 

You fall back into the dirty brick floor, looking up at the dreary ceiling. You crossed your arms over your eyes, feeling yourself getting more frustrated the more you sit in silence. Just like back then. “I probably look so ridiculous right now, especially in front of the girl I used to...” You paused, dropping your arms to your sides. “Doesn’t matter now. Things have gone into deeper shit. Eren...”

Fucking Eren Jaeger. He pulled the scout regiment into something horrible, and now they can’t go back. Innocent people were killed. Lives were ruined, people died. Your people died...

Sasha died. 

You felt your throat starting to ache at the thought of her. Sasha was one of your closest friends, someone who you trusted with your life and cared for was dead. She was killed. 

You sat up, feeling dejected about everything that had happened in the last week. You looked at Annie once again, feeling the guilt rising in your chest. You wanted to throw up. 

“I'm sorry. Your hometown was destroyed. Eren went on a rampage. While getting back home, Sasha was killed by a warrior candidate. Just like you. I don’t even know why I’m telling this. You didn’t particularly like Sasha, you thought that she was always a mess. And you probably can’t hear me but still... I wanted to talk to you again. I miss the old days.” 

You took a deep breath, walking closer to the crystal. “Back when all we had to worry about was if Shadis was lurking every corner waiting for us to mess up so he could make us run a million laps, back when you would ask me questions so I could offer you a different perspective... Back when I could hold your hand.” 

You stopped a few feet away from her crystal, too afraid to touch her just in case she would break. 

She looked so fragile. 

“I hate everything. There’s so much we still don’t know, but with the help of the Anti- Marley volunteers, I’ve gotten a new perspective on every one outside of Paradis. I’m finally here to talk to you after feeling confused about you for years. It's been stuck in my head, I was sure it had made me insane. Why would you betray us? Why did Reiner and Bertholdt betray us? Why did you do what you did? I understand now.”

You continued, coughing a bit to regain your voice. “Do you remember that day when you asked about evil? And if I would hate you if you were evil? I’ve held onto that conversation for years.” You held your hand towards the crystal, hovering over to where her left hand was. “I don’t think you’re evil. Even now I don’t. I don’t even hate you. Not you, not Reiner, and not even Bertholdt. I don’t even hate the girl who shot Sasha. I wish I could but I can't. You guys were kids, victims of war...”

“And I’m hoping you could come out soon... I just miss you. I know you do too. I bet you’re pretty bored.” You chuckled dryly, pulling your hand back, feeling worse than before. Your eyes started to feel heavier than before, and you just knew that your eye bags were noticeable.

“I’m tired. I just want everything to stop. The war, the fighting... The bloodshed. How many more people are gonna die?” The more questions you asked, the more frustrated you became.

Why was the world so cruel? 

You turned your back to her, getting ready to walk out of the underground prison that held her. “I’m glad I was able to talk to you, even though you couldn’t talk back. Reminds me of the beginning of our friendship. You were always so dry to talk to. Anyways, I’ll be back when shit isn’t fucked.”

You looked back once more, staring at her face. You slowly turned back, jogging up the stairs of the prison, saluting Hitch as she guards the entrance. 

You knew this wasn’t goodbye, but it felt like it. Due to how busy the scouts were, you wonder when you would see her again. When would you have the time? Especially now that Eren was in custody, and the Jeagerists were out hiding and scheming. Everything has been so stressful and you wanted a break.

If only you could go back in time before everything changed.

But you know that couldn’t happen. You could only reminisce about those days when you guys were all cadets, when everything was fun and there was no death. 


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! I have a new and pretty long chapter today, yay. Anyways, hope you enjoy! bloom <3

**Year** : ** 847 **

** The past. **

It happened so fast.

One moment you were in your fighting stance, thinking it would be easy to take down someone who was  _ that _ small. Compared to you, she was short. Really short. Then the next minute she had managed to kick your shin, flipping you so you fell on your back when you tried to attack her.

The pain on your shin shot through your whole body, making you shiver at the contact. Not to mention that your back started to ache, you’re pretty sure a rock was there where you landed and it hurt like a bitch. 

The blonde girl towered over you, that look that said she was uninterested in training. It was only the first day of training. The first day! “Maybe instead of underestimating me, you should’ve just practice your form.” Her blue eyes raked over your body, looking you up and down subtly.

You were shocked. She talked! Since the beginning of recruitment she was as quiet as a mouse, but here she was, a couple days later talking! 

A smile played on your lips. 

“Again.” 

She raised her eyebrows, staring at you with confusion. “Again? What are you talking about?”

You sat up quickly, staring at her with a smile while she kept the frown on her face. “Do that again. Teach me how to do that.” You pleaded, referring to the move she used on you. You turned towards her. You had this look in your eye, which caught her attention.

She continues to eye you down. “Why would i teach you anything?” She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest as she stands just as proud and tall as before. She seemed very stoic to you. It’s almost like she wanted you to prove that you were worthy of her teachings.

“That move,” You started, standing up swiftly. The pain in your shin had subsided but you were sure it would leave a bruise. She had a _very_ ,  very  strong kick. It’s almost scary. “Is very powerful. It’s a strong move, and i wanna use it against-people who are bigger than me. Perhaps you have more moves up your sleeves, teach me everything. I want to be stronger.”

She stays quiet for a long time, contemplating if she should or not. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to teach you something. At least you would be able to protect yourself from other people. 

She let out a sigh, turning away from you to look at the back of someone’s large blond head. “Fine. But it won’t be easy, i won’t treat you like some kid. Got it?” 

You nodded eagerly, happy that she had agreed. “The names Y/n, by the way. I’m from Shiganshina district.” You introduced, walking right behind her as she lead you to a better spot to spar. 

“Annie.” She continued walking ahead, guilt surging through her body for a moment. You were there that day. You probably saw it happen, and affected by it. Wait- no. She had to pay attention to her mission. She didn’t have time to worry about this, especially when her father was waiting for her. 

She has to keep moving forward.

-

That whole day, even after training was over she continued to train with you. Giving you tips here and there, giving you bruises when you messed up and making you fix your mistakes.

Before the training with Annie you had only relied on speed but with her help, she taught you how to use speed, momentum and force in one. It was a dangerous combo, which is why you were happy.

You were able to learn something new!

It continued like this for a couple of months, training, eating and sleeping in the same bunk as her. During that time you had managed to learn a lot about her by just her body language. She wanted to be tough- which she was, but she had such a soft side to her that was surprising.

There were a couple times when she had left earlier than needed, sneaking around until she reached one of the away barracks that was untouched for a long time. Behind it was a cat and she had been feeding it. You followed her and saw everything. 

It was quite a sight. 

She doesn’t know about that day, and if she did she was keeping it quiet. Ah! There’s also this thing that she does in her sleep that you thought was super cute. When she’s sleeping she likes to make a ‘whoosh’ sound while also punching the air. 

You’re positive that she doesn’t even know that happens which made it even funnier for you.

Even though she didn’t give much information about herself, you still managed to find small things about her that made you even more curious about her. Sure, you could say that you two were friends but that doesn’t mean she would tell you things just because you asked. She was secretive.

You’re sure she has trust issues or something for her to be so closed off and quiet. You don’t know why but you could only imagine what had happened to her.

She doesn’t like talking about which district she came from, her family or why she even decided to join the cadet core. All you knew was that she wanted to join the military police.

The military police was such a far away concept to you. You weren’t bad but you also weren’t military police good. Plus, you already decided to join the scouts. Was it probably really dumb? Yes. Were you going to change your mind? No. 

You wanted to see the outside world, and the scouts was your ticket outside the walls. You’re not gonna hide behind some walls just because there’s titans out there waiting for you. You were gonna get stronger, and hunt down every single one. 

That was your only promise in this cruel world.

-

** Cadet training exercise: Avoid or interact **

** Hour: 14:23 **

** Month: August 19th, 847 **

**-8 months since recruitment** \- 

You looked up at the large wooden sign on the tree with the number five on it. Scenario five. Your squad for this exercise would be Armin, the record keeper, Mikasa, Eren, Annie and yourself. 

This exercise would probably be about your judgment and morals. You wouldn’t be surprised if it was. Most people would say the mission is more important than people’s lives but you didn’t fully agree but it depended.

“Eren. Before this exercise starts, we should talk about something.” You started, standing a couple of feet away from him while giving him a look. You were gonna take this exercise seriously. You needed to make sure nothing happened that would jeopardize you from getting a good grade. 

Eren stared you down, or tried. You and Eren were the same size. You two weren’t close, but If what Jean has told you about him was true than he’s an impulsive hothead. 

Mikasa watched, standing behind Eren with Armin. Mikasa and Armin were Eren childhood friends, and from what you know they’re not like him at all but would follow him without a second thought. “Yeah? What is it?” 

You stared at him with a serious expression. “Try to keep a level head, and don’t go running off when you see something you don’t like.” You advised, turning from him to walk over to Annie. She seemed uninterested as usual. 

“What the hells that supposed to mean?” He growled, his green eyes shining in anger. Yep, Jean was right. You didn’t even say anything rude! You were just giving him advice.

“Eren-“ Armin started, he didn’t want you and Eren to get in a fight right before this exercise. It could end badly, but he couldn’t finish because you interrupted him.

You looked back at him, standing close to Annie. Annie was now paying attention, staying neutral but looking back and forth between you two. She was curious as to why you seemed so interested and focused on this exercise. 

“Look, i’m not trying to offend you or anything but you’ve got to understand that this exercise is for the future, it’s a scenario that could happen and if you’re not thinking clearly things will go wrong.” You explained, making sure you didn’t give him the wrong impression. 

You didn’t hate him, and you definitely weren’t trying to start a fight with him. You just wanted this exercise to end swiftly, without any problems.

He looked irritated, but nodded nonetheless. Something about him reminded you of a very small angry dog. 

Your squad started walking into the forest, your odm gear making slight noise while walking through the tree’s. You spot a red circle on a large tree, and you all walked towards it. You looked behind the tree, looking at the scene that was intended for the scenario.

You looked towards Armin, wondering what the scenario would be. “So what’s our scenario, Armin?” You asked, waiting for him to read the paper, continuing to look behind the large tree.

He looked down at the journal, looking at the paper on top of it, looking at the scenario that was randomly picked for your squad. “You’ve lost your horses, you have limited gas and blades. Your squad continues to walk through the forest towards the walls, but along the way you find scouts that are being cornered by titans. Avoid or interact?” He finished, looking around at everyone. He folded the paper into his pocket, opening his journal to start his record keeping. 

The exercise has started. 

“We should keep moving.” Annie said, looking towards the direction to keep walking forward.

Eren’s eyes widen at her, his expression changed and he become angry. Armin starts writing quickly, keeping track of the conversation. “What?! We can’t leave them to die! We have to save them.”

You thought about it for a moment, thinking about what could happen if you did save them. You have to think of this as a real situation that’s happening. 

You were sure that you would die, along with your squad. From here you can see 12 (dummy) titans, surrounding a squad of human dummies. Even if you were able to save them than your gas and blades would be wasted. This would only make things worse, despite that you wanted to save them but you had to think smart.

Before you could even bring up what you were thinking Eren charged in without a second thought, Mikasa following behind him. They used their gear to fly over to the (dummy) titans. You sighed loudly, following behind them to help. Annie and Armin joined in, while he kept his distance since he was only responsible for writing down you conversations and what you were doing.

After 3 minutes of killing the (dummy) titans, you stood in-front of the human dummies. You read the wooden sign above the dummies. ‘If you decided to interact you must carry them with you until the end’.

You groaned, glaring at Eren as he quickly carried a dummy over his shoulder. He looked over at you with a hard glare. “Why are you acting like it’s a burden to save people? If this was a real scenario I would do it again.” 

You sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of your nose to stop yourself from lunging yourself towards him. “That’s not the issue here. I told you to keep a level head, but again, you jumped in without thinking about your consequences! If this was a real scenario than the chances of them being dead would be high. Also, if this was a real scenario you just endangered our lives without thinking! We could’ve died with them!”

You glared once more before grabbing a dummy and walking ahead. Eren was able to make you raise your voice so easily. He was such an idiot, also a fucking liability for the future scouts. If he managed to live that long.

After the exercise was over, Armin turned in the journal to the instructor, and your squad was given a break for the rest of the day. You decided to head back to your bunk to take a nap until dinner. You weren’t interested in interactingwith anyone after being annoyed by that fool. 

Jean was right about about him.

You climbed into your bunk after avoiding everyone who asked why you looked so mad, you even almost punched Jean when he asked if it was  _ that  _ time of the month. Marco had to pull him away from you just so he wouldn’t get hurt. 

You’ve never been so annoyed in your life. Why couldn’t he just listen to you? You hated that he didn’t listen but why are you still on that subject? You needed to cool off. 

You flopped face first into your pillow, taking a deep breath. You eyes closed, and you were about to take a nap until you heard someone climbing into your shared bunk. You ignored the person, continuing to try to take a nap. 

“Why are you so upset?” The familiar voice of Annie asked. Her voice sounded different, it changed into almost a caring way. “Eren’s an idiot, but you shouldn’t let it get to you.” 

You opened your eyes, turning your face to look at her and seeing how close she was sitting next to you. You were on your stomach, facing her while she just sat next to you while looking at the wall across from her.

You shrugged, not entirely sure what was wrong with him. “Something about him just... Irritates me. I get that he wants to save people but he doesn’t think things through. For some reason, i just get this feeling like he’s gonna be responsible for a lot of people’s deaths if he’s not carful.” 

She hummed, understanding where you were coming from. “Try not to let it get to you.” She walked towards the ladder to leave but you stopped her.

“Can i have a hug?” You asked, smiling innocently at her.

“No.” 

“Please! It’ll make me feel better.” You reasoned, but she didn’t budge just yet. 

She looked down at your lips, you were still smiling. “You seem to be fine.” 

You frowned. “I’m not, please.” You pleaded, sitting up. You felt awake now. “It’s just one hug.” 

She sighed, looking around the bunk room area. She wanted to make sure no one was near. She slowly made her way towards you, but stopped half way once she saw you lunging yourself towards her. 

Your hands sneaked around her waist, resting your chin on her shoulder as you pulled her closer. Annie had no idea where to put her hands but decided to wrap them around your shoulders. She blushed slightly at the contact. 

“I haven’t hugged anyone in a long time. It’s nice.” She revealed in a whisper. It just slipped out. It felt nice that she could confide in you. She understands you the most. You had told her everything that she wanted to know, and right now the least she could do is tell you that. 

You were the only person that Annie had talked to on a regular basis besides Reiner and Bertholdt. You were her friend. She was just fine with you. You made her forget about everything, and somehow she was okay with that. 

But she was also worried. You managed to make a hole in her hard exterior so soon, and made your way into her head. Maybe even into her heart, which she doesn’t show unless you’re alone with her. 

You hummed, breaking her from her own thoughts. “i’m sorry, i know you hate talking about it. i’m glad you’re in a better place now.”

She bit the inside of her cheek, stopping herself from revealing anything more. You pulled away and she followed your lead, you gave her a smile and leaned back into your bunk, landing on the pillow that was against the wood wall behind you.

She looked away, contemplating if she should ask you. Her blue eyes found yours, and you held eye contact with her. You knew she wanted to ask you something but you kept quiet until she spoke up. It’s something new you’re trying to get her to open up more.

“Evil... Or bad people. What do you think about them?” She finally asked, her arms crossed,her eyes were laced in curiosity as she looked back at you. She leaned onto the wall across from you, just watching you.

You hummed in thought. It was a good question. You didn’t know what to say or how to say it. But you decided to try. You were quiet for a while, thinking of your answer. “From my perspective, i don’t think evil is that common. You don’t see people going out of their way to be evil, and if you did, they either had a reason or no choice.”

Annie stayed quiet for a moment, and you thought she wasn’t going to answer you- which was fine. You closed your eyes. Even though she was quiet her presence made you feel better. 

It was better than being alone. 

“What if I was a bad person or evil? What would you think of me?” Annie spoke up, her voice was quiet- even so, you could still hear her. You frowned. What would you do? What could you do? Was there anything you could do?

“You might not believe me but i would try to understand why you’re evil. If your reason was justified or not, even if it wasn’t- you probably had no choice, right?” You started, and even though it sounded kinda complicated you were hoping she understood. 

“If i had a reason to be evil, i wouldn’t need to explain myself because nobody else would understand. Even so, i would want someone to at least hear me out. If i could be that person for you than it would be enough.” Your response was pretty lengthy but it was probably the best response you could give. You tried to understand why she was asking this, but you didn’t. Even so, you wanted to there for her. 

You sat back up, making your way towards her. You cautiously grabbed her hand, holding her hand in yours. She was confused but didn’t pull away. “You’re not a bad person, Annie. I doubt you’ve done worse than half the people inside the walls. Would you go out of your way to hurt someone?” You asked her softly. 

She slowly shook her head, looking back down at your interlocked fingers. You smiled, squeezing her hand. “Than you’re not a bad person, you’re not even evil. Stop thinking about yourself like that. You’re a good person. I’ve seen it, despite what everyone else thinks.” 

She looked away once again, and that’s when you knew she wasn’t gonna reply to you so you pulled your hand from her, ready to get some sleep but she grabbed your hand. 

“Annie? You just grabbed my hand-“ 

“Shut up.” She didn’t look at you once but you understood right away that she wanted you to shut up. You smiled at her, even though she couldn’t see it. What an idiot. She just wanted to hold your hand in silence. How cute.

You have to remember one thing when you two are alone together. 

Don’t ask, don’t tell.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I’m glad you guys are enjoying my works! i love y’all <3 bloom
> 
> ps. The timelines a bit out of place but i needed to do it for it to make sense for this story. I wouldn’t dwell on it for too long

** Location: Girls Cabin #4 **

** Year: 848 **

** Hour: 20:15 pm **

Mitras was located inside Wall Sina, formally know as the royal capital. The residents inside the capital are known to be on the richer side. Most MP’s resided there for a quiet life tucked away from the dangerous titans. 

What you didn’t understand was why Annie wanted to go the royal capital, more specifically Ehrmich district, so late. She had asked Mina to do her hair, and helped pick out an outfit for her. You watched from your bunk as Mina fixed her hair, planning to match it to hers. 

You were questioning why she even wanted to go. What did she need to do at the royal capital? Especially so late when you had training the next day.

“Are you sure you want to go by yourself? What if something bad happens? It’s dangerous.” You questioned, jumping down from your bunk to stand in front of her and Mina. The rest of the girls in your cabin were either messing around or enjoying their free time until lights out. 

Ymir, Krista and Sasha had been talking for something in their top bunk next to yours and Annie’s bunk. Ymir would look at you every once and awhile. And that’s when you knew she wanted to ask you something, but for now you were going to ignore her.

Annie looked up at you, flinching when Mina brushed through her messy hair. It was slightly tangled. Mina apologized quietly, continuing with her hair. 

“I just need check something out.” She replied, sitting still while Mina used a hair tie for one side of her low pigtails.

“Alone?”

Mina looked over at you, giving you a playful look as she points the hair brush in your direction. “Quit it, Y/n. She’ll be fine! She’s taken down Reiner of all people. Just let her have her fun for tonight.” 

Mina was excited for her friend. Annie had never been interested in sneaking out or going against the rules but tonight was different. She was happy that Annie was finally rebelling.

You let out a sigh but nodded. You were worried, very worried about why she wanted to go so suddenly and without help. 

Plus, she was getting dressed up. She looked really pretty in that red sun dress, and she had a light brown coat to go with it. You’ve never seen Annie getting dressed up. Beside Annie was a hat with glasses. 

Why would she even need those? 

You eyed her almost suspiciously as she stood up after Mina had finished. Mina was all smiley and happy about how pretty Annie turned out. Mina nudged your shoulder, grabbing your attention. “What do you think? She looks good, huh?”

You nodded, you ears heating up from looking at Annie. She looked beautiful. You looked down at your feet, tapping the floor with your heel. “Yeah, you look great.”

“Thanks,” She nodded, giving you two a wave of goodbye before she sneaked out of the barracks towards the royal capital. It would only take her a couple hours to get there. Who knows when she would even get back. 

You sighed, walking outside to get some fresh air. You climbed onto the railing, leaning against the beam as you looked up at the sky. Stars stretched all across the sky, in bright little specks that made your eyes shine in admiration. 

You loved stars. 

You heard the door open from your cabin which prompted you to look at the person who followed behind you. You and Ymir stared at each other.

You tilted your head in confusion, slightly amused by her weirdness. “Shouldn’t you be inside licking the dirt from Krista’s boots?” 

She smirked, her eyes shining in amusement. She crossed her arms, leaning against the wall next to the door. “What? Don’t tell me you’re jealous, y/n?”

“Me? No way in hell.” 

She hummed, her face changing into something serious. She gave you a serious look, her face showed no side of messing around. She pushed herself from off the wall, walking closer towards you. “You got the hots for ice bitch, don’t ya?”

You scoffed moving away from the beam to turn your body towards her. She stopped a few inches from you, enough to give you some personal space. “Ice bitch? I’m not quite sure who you’re referring to.” 

“Seriously? It’s so obvious that i’m talking about Annie. Ice bitch = Annie.” She sighed, looking down at you like the tall tree she is. Even while you were sitting down on the railing, she was still taller than you.

You were dumbfounded. Where did that even come from? You don’t have the hots for Annie, there’s no way. She’s a girl! “What are you on about? Maybe you should follow your own advice and mind your own business.” 

“No need to bite my head off. I was only making an observation.” She cracked a smile and turned her back to you, looking back once more before she walked back into the cabin. 

You stayed there for a couple of minutes thinking about what she had said _. God, nows not the time or place to have a crush on someone! Especially someone like Annie! She would be in the MP’s by the next two years! And you would probably be dead. It’s wouldn’t work..._

You jumped off the railing, kicking the wood harshly.  _Damn, Ymir._ Always sticking her nose where it shouldn’t be. _Fuck_.  You took a deep breath, going back inside to get some sleep.

You hoped Annie would be safe.

-

** Location: Royal capital; Ehrmich  **

** Hour: 2:16 am **

Annie trailed behind a man named Kenny Ackerman. She had wondered if she was related to Mikasa but didn’t dwell on the topic too long. She had asked around, gaining useful information about the royal family and Kenny.

He took a sharp left, and she followed. She hid behind the wall, making sure not to get caught by him. She realizes that she had lost him, but felt a hand on her shoulders behind her. She quietly gasped in surprise, making no sudden moves.

“Hey, missy. You’ve got good taste in men to tail a geezer like me.” The older man was smiling the whole time, leaving his hand on her shoulder to make sure she wouldn’t run.

“I was born at an inn.” She said, quickly making up something on the spot. “My mom, who works there, talks about my father so much, i know it’s you.”

He thought for a moment, the smile on his face disappearing in the process. “Well, that’s real touching. If you want a hug from papa, put your hands up.” He ordered, but she ignored him.

“How are you sure it’s not you?” She questioned, her hand clenched from how nervous she was.

“I made a promise to my sister. This joke of yours ain’t makin’ me laugh.” 

They both paused for a moment.

“You’re so mean, papa!” She moves away from him quickly, going in for a kick but he managed to dodge it. Since he dodged, her kick made a hole in the brick wall next to them. He was caught off guard, moving back to avoid another one of her hits if it was to come but didn’t.

She ran away quickly, losing her hat and glasses in the process. Kenny stopped to grab his hat, looking unbothered. “Hey now... Having a rebellious phase, are we?” He started running after her.

Annie had managed to lose him after running for some time, so she decided to get back. She was exhausted. She had stayed up all night, asking around and even ran away from a dangerous man. 

-

** Location: Outside the fence of training camp **

** Hour: 5:09am **

Annie was exhausted after her night in the capital. She just wanted to sleep, and have a conversation with you. She wanted to forget about everything, and pretend it wasn’t happening. She needed an escape.

She resumed with her cold demeanour towards the two boys infront of her. She need to make sure they wouldn’t notice anything different about her since from the beginning she decided to stay away from everyone as much as needed but than you came along, ruining her plans. 

Which she didn’t mind, but she wouldn’t say anything.

“While you two snoozed off after playing with your friends, i was busy crawling around the capital’s sewers.” Annie started, looking down at the ground in-front of them as if to hide her tired eyes. Bertholdt sat on a log across from her while Reiner was on the log next to her. “I’ve hit my limit if he’s around.”

Reiner looked down at her, knowing she wouldn’t look back at him. He wanted to know everything she had found out. This was apart of their mission. “Your limit, huh?”

She looked annoyed at his response, turning her head away from him. She wanted to end their mission fast before anything got too deep. “Let’s take what we know back to Marley. They would be happy to hear anything.” 

“Do you honestly think that? Not if it’s all we have to show after four years.” He stood up, looking down at her. His warrior side was taking over.

She looked up at him, her anger showing towards him. She was frustrated. He always seemed to avoid the conversation of going back to Marley. “Then, what are you saying we do?!” 

“Destroy Wall Rose.” He enquired blankly. “It’s the only way we can smoke out the Founding Titan.”

She scoffed. _He’s not serious. At least not yet._ Her mind wanders to you. You could die if they decided to break wall rose. ”A lot of your friends are going to die.”

He needed to say it once more for Annie to understand him. It wouldn’t hurt to gain everyone’s trust, especially if their plans for the future are gonna work. He kneeled himself in-front of Annie. “I keep telling you: they’re not our friends- they’re devils. And don’t make me remind you that you’ve gotten too close to y/n-“

“I’m gonna barf. Move your face away from mine and don’t bring her up.” Annie interrupted him, closing her eyes to avoid looking at his dumb face.

He sighed, standing up and moving away from her. The expression on her face had changed. She looked worried and annoyed at the same time. How will this all end up for you and her in the end? 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. 

She shouldn’t have gotten close to you at all, now it’s gonna hurt more when  _ that _ time comes. She wasn’t happy about what was to happen in the future. 

“I bet you’re exhausted. Sorry for always laying the burden on you. Let’s call it a day.” Reiner started walking away, which made Annie follow him. bertholdt stayed behind for a bit, talking to himself as Annie and Reiner waited for him.

-

** Location: Training woods  **

** Hour: 7:30am **

** -Later that day- **

You hated running. 

You hated running more than anyone in the world. Sure, you were sort of fit but running wasn’t one of your strong-suits. You especially hated running with people who were even more athletic than you. You couldn’t keep up with them.

“L/n! What is your malfunction?! Would you like to run more laps!?” Commandant Shadis roared towards you, seeing as you were little behind. He glared at you before returning up ahead of the trail. 

“fuck,” You cursed quietly, deciding to pick up your pace but the equipment didn’t make it much easier. Your legs felt heavy, and your throat was dry. You regret not drink a gallon of water before training this morning.   
  


Not to mention you didn’t get much sleep. You had spent most of the night overthinking about if Annie was alright. She had came back around 4 or 5, looking half dead. She changed into something else and disappeared before you could even say a word to her.

She looked a bit more irritated than usual.

“Hey, Y/n. You’re lagging behind, you alright?” Reiner jogged beside you, giving you a concerned look. Reiner was like a big brother to everyone, he was always there for everyone. You liked him. You’ve always put your trust in him when it came to training together. You weren’t close, but you were still friends.

You nodded, breathing heavily through your nose. You were so exhausted. “I think i’m gonna die.”

He laughed, looking ahead at everyone who was ahead of you two. Commandant Shadis was yelling at everyone up ahead on his horse. “Quit overreacting. Remember, we still got two years to go.” 

You groaned but nodded. You urged your feet to go faster, which you did. You ran passed everyone and continued to pace yourself so you wouldn’t get tired. Commandant Shadis was impressed, so he let you be.

You focused on running, finishing ahead of everyone so you could take a water break. You ran faster, hoping that everything would end once you reach the end of the trail. 

You’re sure of it.

Annie watched as you ran ahead. That was such a ‘you’ thing to do. You always seemed to run ahead, without looking back. Something about that made her nervous about you. Though she wouldn’t show it.

She wanted to run ahead with you, but her mission was holding her back. She had to remind herself that she needed to get back home. For _him._

She was a bit conflicted.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this came so late i was playing Minecraft and for distracted, my bad :/ But anyways enjoy! <3 bloom
> 
> ps. sorry if it’s short just wanted a chapter like this

** Location: Training field **

** Hour: 16:55pm **

The next couple of weeks were even harder than before. You’ve noticed the extra hours Commandant Shadis had made every cadet put in. Even adding more hand-to-hand combat training during the afternoons.

One thing had caught your attention.

Eren and Annie.

You watched from afar as Annie was kicking Eren’s ass, Reiner was just watching them. You were confused as to why she was even training with him. Was she teaching him some moves just like she had done with you?

Sure, you’ll admit that he isn’t as narrow minded or impulsive as before but he was still a bit immature and annoying. Always talking about freedom like he was a some bird that’s been stuck in a cage. 

It was getting pretty old.

Why Eren of all people? Annie didn’t seem interesting in talking to other people unless it was you or Mina. But then again, you didn’t know who she talked to once she managed to slip away from you. She was always so secretive like that.

You’ve gotten used to it though. The thing about Annie was that she was unpredictable. You could never tell what she was thinking. 

But even so, you can tell when she’s thinking too much, but she always gives you so little to understand. It’s almost like she wants you to find the pieces yourself. Eren didn’t seem like the type of person to get that.

So, seeing her having a full conversation with Eren was quite the confusing sight to you.

Jean and Marco watched as you were distracted by Eren and Annie. They’ve noticed you were acting a little more irritated, nothing they couldn’t handle though.

“You got a crush on Eren or something? Why’re you staring at them?” Jean asked, holding the wooden knife towards you. You took it, backing up from him. 

You rolled your eyes, almost gagging at the thought of liking Eren. “You’re kidding me right? Him of all people?” Seems you were still cranky at what happened a year ago. He just never listened to you which always pissed you off.

Marco laughed, watching you two from the side lines. He’s supposed to switch with you two every once and awhile since there wasn’t enough pairs.

“Sorry, you can’t blame us for thinking that. You’ve been glaring at them for a while.” Marco explained, a soft smile on his lips. The idea of of you maybe, just maybe liking Annie more than a friend didn’t cross his or Jean’s mind, at least not yet.

“I don’t have a crush on that stupid, Jaeger.” You expressed with a frustrated groan. You ran towards Jean, aiming the knife towards his heart. He dodged you, yes it was surprising since he was super tall, but he moved to the side, grabbing your arm and twisting it behind your back as his hard moved to the back of your head to keep your face in the ground. 

“Calm down, y/n. We’re just teasing.” Jean grabbed the knife from you, helping you up once you decided to sit up from the dirt. How was Jean able to beat you just like that? He wasn’t able to do it before but now he did it so easily. You need to cool it, you’re doing that same thing Eren did.

You impulsively jumped in.

Marco looked at you curiously, walking towards Jean as you walked to the sidelines. You needed to cool down. Again, that Jaeger made you lose your cool, which overall made you lose to Jean. 

So annoying.

“So what’s up? Why the glaring?” Marco asked you, half-assing his attack towards Jean. Jean played along, just so you guys could continue to talk freely.

“It’s Annie. Why is she even talking to that idiot?” You asked with a sigh, looking back at Annie and Eren. Why were you even jealous? It’s not like Annie would gain a crush for him just because she’s showing him a few moves. The thought of it just irked you in all the wrong ways.

“Who knows? Why don’t you ask Mikasa what’s so appealing about him?” Marco grinned mischievously at Jean, who only scoffed and rolled his eyes. But you couldn’t help but laugh at your two close guy friends.

Marco and Jean are the guys you hang out with when Annie disappeared or wanted to be alone. Sometimes Annie wanted to eat or be alone, which you respected, so on those days you ate or hung out with Jean and Marco. You got super close to them. 

“That’s low, Marco. Even for you.” 

“Aw, don’t be mad. It’s not your fault that she’s in love with him and not you-“ You were interrupted by him as he threw the wooden knife towards you, which you dodged by ducking just in time. “Woah! Cool it, horse face!”

“Shut your trap! How’d this conversation flip from you, to me?!” 

You shrugged your shoulders, a smile on your lips. “Maybe because we’re both going through the same thing in a way?”

He raised his eyebrows at you. “Are you saying you’ve got a crush on the Ice bitch?” 

“No! That’s not what i meant,” You glared at him. Were you talking about that? Wait. No you definitely weren’t! “And don’t call her that, douche.” 

“What do you mean than, y/n?” Marco asked, placing his hands on his hips. Marco was curious about what you meant. Were you saying thatyou had a crush on Annie? And why were you trying to hide it so badly? 

Again you shrugged your shoulders, turning away from them to stare at Connie and Sasha who were fooling around like dumb assess. “Don’t know. It made more sense in my head, okay?” 

Jean and Marco just chuckled at you and continued to train lazily, just as distracted as you.Somewhere along the line Connie and Sasha joined you three.

When you and Sasha made eye contact, you immediately raised your hands playfully like you were pointing a knife towards her and she did the same. You two circled each other for a minute, but just as you were about to run towards her, you felt the strong pressure of someone’s hand on your head, your body being lifted from the ground. 

You looked at the person responsible seeing Commandant Shadis glaring at you with his dark eyes. Your eyes widen, realizing that he must’ve seen you messing around. 

“Commandant, what a surprise to see you here.” You stuttered nervously, the pressure on both sides of your head felt like you were being crushed to death. 

His glare darkened, making you even more nervous. “Now’s not the time to mess around, cadet. You wanted to join the scouts, right? You’ll become good feed for them if this continues.” 

He drops you onto the ground and walks away. “Ow.” You mumbled quietly, feeling the pain on your butt. You looked up at you friends as they pretend to train. “Assholes.” 

Jean shook his head, a teasing smirk on his face. He’s lucky he didn’t get in trouble unlike you. “Not our fault.” He shrugged, pursing his lips as he looked away from you.

You glared at him, ignoring him completely as Marco walked over to you and held out his hand for you. “You okay?” 

You nodded, about to take his hand but a voice calling out for you stopped you. You turned around, seeing Annie, looking down at you with a frown. She looked between you and Marco, reading something completely off between you and the boy. 

“Annie? What’s up?”

She walked up to you without another word, grabbing the back of your uniform as she pulled you away from your friends. You struggled against her hold but she didn’t budge. You looked back at your friends, silently asking for help but they didn’t budge. They weren’t gonna mess with Annie. From where you were, you could see them laughing at your vulnerable state. 

“Annie,” You whined, seeing every cadet on the training field looking over at you two, even so, she continued to pull you away forcibly. Your butt kept dragging against the dirt, rocks piercing your clothes and making your pants dirty. 

You wondered what she would nag you about this time. It was probably because you were messing around and got caught. 

She continued to drag you towards behind the barracks, avoiding Commandant Shadis as he continued to lecture a different team far away from you two.

-

Eren watched as you were dragged away by Annie. He was confused. Annie didn’t seem like the type of person who was social or close with people, which was true but then again it seemed like you were different. 

What about you caught her attention? You seemed pretty normal to him. He looked over at Reiner, who seemed to be wondering the same thing. “Have they always been like that? I just noticed.” Eren said, grabbing Reiners attention back from the two girls who had disappeared. 

Reiner was quiet for a moment. You two were closer than Annie made it seem. Annie had told him that you liked to follow her around, but it seemed different now. He scoffed, hiding it with a fake laugh. 

“Same here. This is new.” Reiner agreed with him, looking down at the wooden knife in his hand. He wrapped his fingers around it tightly, if he wanted to, he could break it.

Eren nodded. “Guess so.” He didn’t think of the topic too long. The only thing on his mind was beating you in hand-to-hand combat. Annie would mention you a couple of times when she had taught him a few moves. He really wanted to see what you were made of. He assumed you would be a great opponent to spar with since you’ve been hanging around Annie.

He would definitely ask you to spar later.

-

Annie had let go of you once you were behind the largest barrack, her back turned away from you, feeling slightly irritated. She had no idea why though. Seeing you being all buddy-buddy with Marco annoyed her. Even more annoyed when Jean had managed to take you down. She taught you better than that. 

You stayed seated on the ground, turning your body towards her so she could explain why she dragged you all the way here. 

But she stayed quiet, which annoyed you. She should be explaining herself but instead she’s acting like a kid who didn’t get what they wanted. That new system you tried didn’t seem to work out in this moment.

“Uh, hello? Do you know how embarrassing that was? You dragged me here and for what?” You questioned, crossing your arms against your chest as you looked up at the blonde girl.

She finally turned around, raising her eyebrows at you. “That was embarrassing? How about when Jean managed to bring you down? What the hell was that?” 

You groaned, knowing she would bring this up. Why was she nagging you about something dumb as this? “What? I was distracted, of course he was gonna take me down. I was being impulsive.” 

She stayed quiet, collecting her thoughts. “Distracted? By what? What was so important that you were able to lose to him?”

You looked down, you cheeks heating up at what you had been thinking about when you were distracted.  _You, dumbass. I was distracted by you_. “It was nothing. Something dumb,” You mumbled. 

She scoffed, getting ready to walk away from you and back to the training field. “Since you won’t tell me the real reason, i’m going to ignore you now. I’m not going to talk to you.”

You watched as she was half way gone already, you stood up, running towards her and grabbing her arm to stop her. She stopped, still looking up ahead. “Fine! I was distracted by you!”

It was quiet, and the awkward tension was eating away at you. It was almost like you were being suffocated by the cold atmosphere. She finally turned to you, shocked at by what you said. 

“Me? Why me?” 

You pulled your hand away from her, moving it so you could cover your mouth. “I don’t know. I just keep looking back at you, wondering about you.” You were only half-lying. Sure, you were thinking about that but it was something more. 

You found yourself thinking about having a future with a girl. In such a different way than intended. You wanted to stay with her, eat with her, hold her hand... Maybe even kiss her. 

Annie could tell when you weren’t telling the full truth, so she turned to walk away from you to walk away again. You groaned, feeling even more vulnerable and embarrassed than before. You ran ahead of her, stopping in-front of her while you kept your head down. 

“I think I like you! I was distracted because you were with Eren, and i was jealous. I don’t understand these feelings very well but i know that i can’t stop thinking about you. I always want to be by your side and i want to be closer to you.” You started, revealing what had been distracting you. Your face heated up, and you’re sure that you were a burning mess at the confession.

You took a deep breath, cooling off before you continued. “I’ve been curious about you since the beginning. That’s why i was so persistent on being your friend. I wanted to get to know you, even if it was only as a friend. But because of your prickly attitude it’s been hard, but even so i’m going to continue. I’m not stopping when it comes to getting to know you better.” 

The silence was killing you. You took a step back, a shaky breath leaving your now bloodily lips. You were anxious the whole time, biting your lip until it was bleeding to calm yourself down. You weren’t planning on even telling her, yet here you are revealing everything to her.

You continued to look at the floor, sadness laced in your eyes at what her, expecting the worse. You knew her answer would be a blunt no but still, a wave of relief washed over you now that you’ve let it off your chest. “Will you talk to me again...? That’s all i want.” 

“Why?” She whispered, her blue eyes raking over your own once you looked up at her. She couldn’t believe you, why  her of all people. 

“Why what?” 

“Why me? Why did it have to be me?” This definitely wouldn’t end well for the both of you, she knew that. She was on a mission, a mission to kill everyone on this Island but god, she hated this mission more than the other warriors. She knew the island wasn’t filled with bad people, it was actually filled with the best people but Marley had made all of you seem horrible. It can’t be stopped. 

There was so much on the line.

_ Why me? _ Why did she even ask that question? Something about her pulled you in and made you want to be closer to her. The question ringed through your head. 

“Why you?” You questioned quietly, more to yourself than to Annie. “You’re asking me why when i’ve already told you why! I just want to be closer to you, even if you end up hating me. I don’t care how many times you push me away or kick my ass in training, it won’t push me away! Your tactics won’t won’t on me because i know them too well, and in the end you won’t end up happy. So, please. Stop pushing me away.”

Annie bit her lip, letting out a soft sigh. The least she could do is enjoy it while it lasts. You deserve that much. Due to everything she’s done, it all seems worthless in the end. She wouldn’t live for very long, even if the mission succeeded and everyone, including you, would die then it would still end up the same. She would die years later, the cycle repeating with another candidate. 

She wanted to feel normal, even if it was for a little while. She had been hiding her feelings for so long from you, but in all honesty, she just needed time. 

She slowly placed her hand on your head, patting you softly. “I don’t have a favourite colour, but i prefer green.” 

She pulled away, walking ahead of you slowly so you could catch up. “Uh, Annie? What does this mean-“

“Just be quiet and enjoy the moment, dumb ass.” She interrupted you, her usual tone in her voice as she spoke to you. Everything seemed less tense, making you smile. You followed behind her, smiling like an idiot.

You're sure this is just the beginning, and she would tell you more in the future.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty lengthy chapter because i used the ova, ‘Distress’ for this chapter. Enjoy! <3 bloom

** Year: 849 **

** Location: Bad Lands, Wall Rose **

**Training exercise: Distress**

Nothing much had changed between you and Annie, seeing as she wasn’t very affectionate to begin with, but she always made an effort to hang around you whenever she could. 

She likes to stand a little closer to you, subtly touching you when she knows no one is looking and when it comes to cuddling she isn’t the softest. She’s a little stiff but she’s trying for you.

She acts so differently when you two are alone. She’s a little softer. But she’s still a little harsh about your affections towards her when people are around. Which you understood, even though it wasn’t unheard for people of the same sex to be in a relationship, it was almost unmentionable. 

Some people weren’t as understanding as some other people which why most people never talking about it, unless they were comfortable about it. Which was rare on its own.

Speaking of, you don’t even know if you two are even in a relationship. She’s told you before that she liked you the same way you liked her, which took some time on its own. Neither of you have asked each other about being girlfriends. But if you’re being honest, you think it’s better this way. You don’t have to label each other. 

You think she probably just prefers it this way too.

You think she doesn’t want to label you as her girlfriend for _one_ reason. And that reason would be getting separated by next year. You two were joining completely different regiments, probably never having any time to see each other at all. 

What would become of you two by then? She would probably become a high ranking officer, while your chances of being eaten were even higher than before. You weren’t bad at using the anti-titan weapons, in fact you were actually pretty good, but anything could happen. Especially with that colossal and armour titan lurking outside the walls. 

You haven’t talked to Annie about any of this, thinking it would make things harder for you two. You also haven’t had the chance to talk to her due to Commandant Shadis separating people into different groups for the past few months of training.

This training was a bit different since instead of training back at base camp, you’ve all been training outside of base camp since the start of the new year. 

Even sometimes training in small parts of trost district. It was a training simulation to see how you would handle yourself if the titans were able to break through trost.

This time was no different. 

The 104th Training Corps, were split into two groups. The groups were to make a round trip to your target location and record your progress within a given time period. The journey to the destination goes on for about 40km.

Marco was your group leader, while Armin was in charge of the record keeping, as always. Your group mates included Sasha, Connie, Krista, Mina, Jean and Eren. 

The other group was led by Thomas, with Mikasa as the record-keeper. Their group included, Bertholdt, Reiner, Annie, Daz and Ymir.

Both of the teams set out at the same time and proceeded towards the huge forest through the hot and dry terrain. The groups were to trade information at the target location and return to the starting point, completing a loop.

The objective of this exercise was to evaluate everyone’s ability to sustain themselves in the absence of crisis.

Your group treaded through the hot terrain, only finding large rocks, and half dead tree’s. The only signs of life was your group. You were burning up in your uniform, nearly melting at how hot the sun had been glaring down at you.

You kept yourself quiet, being irritated by how early your team had to wake up to prepare for this exercise. You stayed behind everyone, looking at your surroundings. You weren’t in the mood to deal with Jean and Eren if they were to bicker, which they would. They always did.

Marco, who was already sweating, looked back at your whole team, everyone’s horse trotting slowly on the trail. “So... We’re not allowed to rush?” He questioned, looking towards Armin for confirmation.

“Right.” Armin nodded, stuttering at bit at the sudden question.

“We’d be stupid if we did. We can take our time.” Jean added, smiling the whole time. 

Eren glared at him, gripping the reigns on his horse. “Jean, if you’re gonna take it slow, then i’m going ahead.”

“Wait, Eren...”

Armin tried to stop him but couldn’t, Eren already walked ahead of him, pushing Marco to stop Eren instead. “But, The formation of the group... What do we do Y/n?” 

You eyes traveled from the distance towards Marco as he called your name. You shrugged, not motivated enough to do this exercise. If he had asked you this question when you were a doe-eyed cadet then you would be the only one pushing yourself. 

Marco sighed, looking at Jean. “Jean? What do we do?”

Jean looked like he didn’t care either way, scowling a bit. “Like i care! Extra effort here won’t get me into the Military Police.” You scoffed at Jean. 

He’s still the same. Always talking about the Military Police like it was so high and mighty. Just because he’s your friend doesn’t change the fact that you hated when he always talked shit like joining the Military Police would make things better. 

“That’s not true...” Marco turned back ahead. “In any case, let’s get on with the exercise.”

“It’s useless.” 

Jean could never stop talking until he got the last word in, that’s what you’ve noticed. Along with the way he treats his mother. You wrinkled your nose at the memory, hating how he treated her. She seemed so nice and caring. How did she end up with a brat like him?

The bickering continued for a while as your group continued on the trail. You tried your best to ignore them.

-

By night fall you felt a little better, enjoying the conversation of what Sasha had been talking about. She liked telling you stories about her life back at her village. You always listened as she talked since it seemed that she was happy every time she did.

“Too bad we didn’t catch that lizard. I could’ve showed you how to prepare it, y/n.” Sasha told you, looking sad at the thought of losing that lizard. You looked at the fire, not bothering to eat the rations that you given to your group. 

You smiled. “We could always try the small ones at base camp?” 

Sasha pondered, trying to remember the size of the lizards back at camp. “We could, but we’d have to catch at least 40 to make it a full meal, maybe even more.”

“Enough. I’ve heard enough about lizards.” Jean spoke up, looking slightly irritated. 

“Weren’t you hunting one just now?” Eren retorted, continuing to cook his food over the fire. Jean and Eren were back to back, each by one of the fires. 

Jean paused from taking a bite of his cracker ration, sighing. “Well, we are supposed to hunt titans, right?”

“And what do you mean by that? Why did you even join the training corps!?” He stood up, ready to fight Jean. Jean only smiled, also standing up from his spot by the fire. 

“To live something better than a humble life, at the very least.” You only rolled you eyes, deciding to stay out of their little fight. This wasn’t new or anything, it happened more than it should.

“What did you say!? Some things can be tolerated, and others can’t!”

Armin was shaking, picking up his wood board that had his paper and compass tucked in. Marco stopped him, about to stop the fight between he two ignorant boys. “It’s fine, Armin! It’s just a chat during mealtime.”

Jean scoffed, a smile still playing on his lips as he glared at Eren. “You think that when a real titan shows up the results of training hard will pay off? Good jo-“ 

“That’s enough from you!” Eren grabbing Jean by his collar, sizing him up. You stayed seated, watching as Krista and Sasha stood up in hopes of stopping them. 

But they wouldn’t listen to anyone, especially not you. 

“Stop it!” Krista yelled.

“How about we actually hunt lizards? You’ll feel better after that!” Sasha tried to help but couldn’t, they continued as the other boys tried to stop them. 

You heard a few twigs and leafs snapping from behind you, sending a shiver up your spine. You stood up, looking behind you at the trees where you hoped o find who ever made the noise but saw nothing.

“Hey, guys...” You started, looking around the whole camp but continued to come up with nothing. You looked at Krista, seeing as she heard the same thing as you.

“Enough already!” Marco was finally able to pull Eren and Jean apart with the help of Connie, despite his protests of ‘letting them hash it out.’

You sat back down, feeling paranoid. It felt like you were being watched. 

Later that night you stayed awake, sitting on a log close to the lake near your groups camp. Everyone was sleeping soundly. Krista was even asleep, even though she expressed that she felt like they were being watch, the same thing you were thinking. 

You wondered what Annie was doing. Was she getting along with Mikasa? You hoped she didn’t start a fight with the muscular girl. 

You hoped that she ate. Sometimes she likes to skip meals, which was often. 

A twig snapped behind you, making you flinch. You stood up, looking around. You had hoped it was Jean so he could apologize about being a dick the day before. You two got in a small argument which resulted in you ignoring him this whole time. 

But it wasn’t Jean, a man in a cloth mask, pointed his gun at you. “Be quiet, and maybe i’ll spare you.” 

You nodded shakily. He suddenly hit you with his rifle, knocking you onto the floor. Everything became blurry, and you could feel the pain on the side of your head. He hit you so hard that you could be bleeding. He forcibly tired you up, gagging you with a clothes and carrying you over his shoulder. 

You don’t remember much after that.

-

Your head started to throb at the pain, you tried to touch your head when you realized that you couldn’t, seeing as your hands were tied up. 

You vision became clearer, seeing that you were laying on the the floor of the carriage, feeling the unsteadiness of it. You turned onto your back, feeling yourself getting constricted by the pain. 

You definitely have a concussion.

You groaned,giving up as soon as you realized the situation you were in. Not only were you hurt, they also had an advantage. You couldn’t do anything. You wished you listened to Annie when she told you to pay attention in this kind of situation. 

You didn’t even notice you were being picked up. They tied you to the iron beam of the carriage, your head started to throb again in pain. It felt like you were constantly hearing loud banging outside your door, which was your head. You licked your lips, noticing the gag was gone. Your mouth felt dry.

You looked at the two men who were sitting not to far from you. A blonde man with a beard was creepily staring at you while the other guy, who was another bald man with a goatee, cleaned his gun.

The blonde man chuckled, looking at the other man. “You hit her pretty hard. She’s losing a lotta blood.”

The other man looked over at you, pausing his actions. He smiled. “Guess so.” He took another good look at you, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. “Say, pretty girl. Have we met before.?” 

Maybe? Who knows!? You can barely see what’s in front of you without it becoming blurry a few seconds after. You shook your head, finding that simple action hard. “No.” You answered lowly. 

“You sure? You look like a kid we lost a few years ago in Shingashina.” The man wondered, continuing to look at your face. He was sure it was you. 

Your heart leapt out of your throat. _ It can’t be him, can it? No, he died. He should’ve died. Why? Is it really him?  _ You have to lie _._ You have to. “I was born in Trost, my parents own a shop.” You mumbled the lie, almost throwing up at the thought of  them.

The man hummed, dropping the subject after hearing a ruckus outside the carriage. You turned your head behind you, seeing that the men pulled their guns towards the pair in the carriage behind you. 

_ Jean! Eren! _

The stumbling from the other man made you fall to the ground, realizing that you ropes were loose. You looked at the blonde man, the other one had fallen out once the carriage behind them bumped into them. You quickly stood up shakily, pushing the man away and he fired his rifle into the air. 

But it was so close to your ear that it had started to ring. 

“Y/n!” Jean yelled towards you, watching at you struggled against the man. He stood up straight once again, aiming and shooting the wheel of the carriage that Eren and Jean where on.

The carriage behind you slide a few times in a circle, falling down a slide and smashing into a tree lightly. Connie, Sasha and Marco ran towards the two boys in a hurry, while Armin and Krista stayed behind.

Jean coughed, looking towards Eren. “You alright?” He asked, and Eren nodded.

“Yeah, somehow...”

“Jean! Eren!” Marco ran up to them, checking on both of them.

“We’re all aright! And so it the 3D gear.” Jean started, looking at the gear.

“But y/n is still...” Eren finished, wanting to save you as fast as he could. The teens all put on their gear, Krista and Armin finally showing up and going after the rest of them.

-

The blonde man kicked your stomach hard, making you feel empty. You’re glad you didn’t eat or else it would be on the floor. He pointed the rifle at you, but another strong voice stopped him. “Don’t kill her! She’s our way out of here!” 

The blonde man paused, grunting realizing the bald man in-front was right. He chuckled, his eyes slowly trailing your body. “So that’s how it is. Thanks to your friends, we’ve lost our score! You’ll have to take the responsibility for them.”

You didn’t bother looking up at him, looking at the wooden floor instead of him. His gun was still trained on you, worried that you would try to stop him again.

You heard a cluster of noise, but it all sounded like metal clashing together. His gun flew to the floor, surprising the blonde guy. The bald man in front let out a frustrated groan, urging his horse to move faster.

The blonde man grabbed another gun from the barrel next to him, pointing it at Jean and shooting a bullet towards him. Eren and Jean flew in the air with precision, moving in sync with each other. 

They both flew towards the front of the carriage, cutting the ropes that held the horse, breaking him free. He rode away, leaving the carriage behind. The bald guy pulled the lever since it was the emergency break. The carriage flew on its side, sliding down a slope and stopping once the momentum was gone.

A loud crash came from said carriage, the smoke from the dirt invading your nose. You slowly got up, feeling tired from what had just occurred. You noticed that the blonde man was knocked out, leaving you alone. You stepped out of the carriage, wobbling.

Suddenly you felt someone grab you forcibly, pulling you to the middle of the broken carriage as he held a large hunting knife to toy neck. It was practically cutting the skin of your neck. You hissed, feeling a chill where he had cut you. 

Great, first your concussion, the bruise on your stomach and now this! What the hell was this happening? And why to you? The man grunts lowly, noticing your friends standing on the log above him. 

You noticed the blonde man pointing the gun at them, barley holding himself up. He was probably hurt too. You thought he was out cold.

You looked up, your eyes widening at the scene in front of you. Eren was glaring at the man, looking more worried and irritated than everyone else. Was he really trying to save you? He should’ve just ran away and left you here. Was he going to get hurt because of you? 

“Do as i say, and hand over the 3D maneuver great! Hurry up!” The man yelled, making Eren grit his teeth at he looked at Jean. They were both worried but didn’t show it. They hesitated, but slowly took of their gear. 

You struggled, finally gaining back your voice. “Stop you idiots! Get out while you can! i’ll be fine-“ The blonde man hit your head once again with the rifle. The pain was even worse now. 

“Be quiet! Don’t make me reveal what you and john were talking about! I could tell you were lying,” The blonde man glared at you once again before he pulled the gun towards your friends again.

_ Fuck, he knows something. _

Eren gritted his teeth, seeing how hurt you were. This was bad, so fucking bad. The blood from your head was covering a fraction of your face, making him angrier but he complied. He didn’t want to get you killed. He continued to take of his gear, the rest of your friends doing the same.

Armin looked up, his eyes shining as he smiled.

“Shit, you’ve got to be kidding me. How did this happen to me. Even if we run away from the titans... What can you do out here where nothing can be risked? Don’t burden others.”  What the hell was he talking about?  You wondered, feeling yourself getting woozy as time-piles on. “I should have taught my daughter that much.”

It wasn’t fair. A man like him cares about his daughter? Why couldn’t you have parents like that? Or maybe even parents like Jean’s. His mother was always so sweet to him while he always got mad at her and threw a tantrum. And this criminal had a daughter that he cares about. You would kill to have a normal life.

It’s not fair. Why did your parents have to do that to you? 

You closed your eyes, feeling even heavier. You could sleep here if you wanted, maybe even for forever. It wouldn’t be that bad, right? Maybe then you could escape this cruel world. 

_Annie_.

You paused, opening your eyes. 

You can’t die yet. You have Annie. 

You heard the 3D gear above you, the wires making noise that you could never forget. You watched as Mikasa took down the blonde guy, another person taking down the bald guy. You feel onto your knees, looking down at the ground. You could finally breathe.

“Don’t kill them!” Krista yelled from the log above them, Mikasa stopped in her tracks, lowering her sword from the blonde mans neck. 

Annie was angry. She keep the sword on the bald guys neck, almost stopping herself from killing him. He deserved to rot in prison for what he did to you. 

Sasha jumped down towards you, placing you on her knees to check on you. But your head was still bleeding, and so was your neck. He didn’t cut that deep, but damn was he close. “Y/n! Hey, stay with me! We still have to cock lizards, right?!

You chuckled dryly, closing your eyes. You were so tired. All you wanted to do was sleep now that you knew you were safe. Sasha has you close and Annie and Mikasa took down the threats.  You felt yourself drift away into sleep, the darkness plaguing you. 

You hoped that you would have a good dream

-

In the end, the gang of thieves were arrested by the Military Police. Without any other casualties, besides the the injuries that you sustained, the incident was over. The exercise was suspended when they realized your injuries were extreme, and you were put on leave for 3 weeks. You had to stay in the medical ward without any physical activities for the mean time. 

You’ve been asleep for a while, worrying your friends into death, but the doctor had made it clear that you would be fine. The concussion wasn’t as severe as it could’ve been, and you were lucky you were still alive.

Annie had stayed by your side the whole time, making sure you were alright. Now that you two were alone, and she made sure the door was locked. She had you all to herself. Guilt was eating away at her. She should’ve saved you sooner, maybe you wouldn’t have been so hurt by that bastard.

She hated that she wasn’t there for you.

You gasped, sitting up and touching your neck with your right hand, that was already bandaged up. You neck was a bit sore, or maybe that was your head. You couldn’t tell.

You breathed heavily, remembering the horrible things from your past. Why was it that you were dreaming of that? You had been doing so good and now those dreams are back. 

“It’s okay. You’re back a base camp.” Annie spoke softly, sitting in a chair beside your bed. She was tracing her finger on your left hand that was clutching the blankets like your life depended on it. 

You relaxed, taking in another breath. “I thought i was dead.” You joked, noticing the air was filled with tension. 

“You’re an idiot.”

You gaped at her, pretending to be offended. You knew that her presence would make you feel so much better. You felt like shit, but Annie was here with you. That was enough. “You’re so cruel. I almost died!” 

“When you told them to run.” Annie whispered, referring to when you told Eren and Jean to run instead of turning in the 3D gear. “You’re dumb. They could’ve killed you.”

You scratched the back of your neck, remembering faintly about what you had said to them. “I would rather get killed than bring down the rest of them with me. I was already injured, i was just holding them back. They risked their lives to save me... They should’ve ran.”

Annie punched your arm, making your grunt in pain. “Ouch? Why?” You questioned, looking at her like she was insane. 

“You’re such an idiot.” She repeated, continuing to punch your arm. She was being gentle, making sure she didn’t hurt you. “I was worried sick about you. You idiot.”

Your eyes softened, grabbing Annie’s hand to stop her from assaulting you. You brought her hand to your lips, pressing a small and comforting kiss i her hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t plan on dying soon.”

“You better, or i’ll kill you myself.” 


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late updates recently, but anyways here’s the new chapter!!! enjoy my loves, <3 bloom

** Location: Medical ward **

** Hour: 7:10am **

You opened your eyes the next morning, findingyourself looking up at the unfamiliar ceiling of the medical ward cabin. You were colder than usual, despite the white blanket that was given to you. You lifted you head from the pillow, your concussion constricting your actions, but you pushed yourself to sit up. You looked around, seeing a cup of water by your bedside table along with a couple of books and a note on the top book. 

You grabbed it, drinking the water like there was no tomorrow. You had finished it pretty fast, placing it back onto the bedside table. You didn’t know what time it was but you had assumed that training was still going on since you could hear Shadis screaming from where you were.

You looked back at the books, grabbing all four of them and looking over the note.  **_ I know it’s not much but these are some of my favourite books. We’ll be visiting you during lunch! - Armin  _ **

You smiled, feeling lucky enough to have great friends like them. Even Eren saved you when you weren’t close, even when you two got into arguments on what was right or wrong. You thought he hated you, enough to let you get taken away but he didn’t. Which means he didn’t hate you. If he did he would’ve just left you there with them. 

With that bastard, the one you thought was dead. He wasn’t just a thieve, he was also a human trafficker. Or was. Whatever, it didn’t matter. He was probably still out there, if only he didn’t manage to fall out of the carriage, he would probably be in custody. 

You bit your lip anxiously, feeling yourself become more scared about that man. How is it even possible that he remembered you? You’ve changed so much, and haven’t even said a word to him before he spoke to you. 

_ That crazy bastard. _

You let out a sigh, letting go of all of your frustration. You shouldn’t think about it too much. He wasn’t gonna hurt you again, and if he tried you would definitely kill him. He’s lucky that you were tried up and had the advantage. If you were to ever see him again you would definitely kill him with your own hands. 

You jumped off the bed, walking slowly towards the window, grabbing one of the books in your hand. You pushed the window open, sitting on the window, looking out at everyone doing their morning exercise. You watched as Armin struggled to keep up with Eren, who was doing sit-ups. Mikasa looked as if she was already finished, Connie and Sasha were messing around and Jean and Marco were taking it easy. 

Everyone else seemed to be doing alright. You watched as Annie and Bertholdt interacted which confused you. You’ve never seen them talk before. Reiner joined in, whispering something close to her. She nodded which made him turn away from her finally. 

You shouldn’t let it bother you so much. 

It’s not like she likes bertholdt, she couldn’t have. This is their first time talking in a while, and it’s more like she’s just listening as he talked, stuttering a bit while looked down at the ground the whole time. You’re almost certain he likes your girlfriend- she’s not your girlfriend. 

He waved and left with Reiner, leaving her alone as she did some push-ups. You continued to watch her for a bit before you looked at the book, your eyes trailing to the title.

_ Close To Paradise _

Was that some sort of sick joke? There’s no such thing as paradise in this world, especially when there was no freedom. Paradise and freedom have to go together or it’s nothing like it should be. 

It wouldn’t hurt to read it though. You opened the first chapter, instantly getting interested in the book after reading a few of the sentences. 

** - **

By lunch time you were almost with the book, finding it extremely interesting. Just like the book suggests, it was close to paradise but it wasn’t. You can see the book in two different way. One, It wasn’t even close to representing the paradise that the main character wanted or two, the main character was so close to reaching their paradise but didn’t. 

Armin had a good taste in books, you would definitely ask him for more recommendations when you finished the rest of the books. At least you wouldn’t be bored while you were stuck here.

You were on the last chapter when your friends came into your small room, Sasha jumping straight into the bed with you. You found the window uncomfortable so you moved back into the bed soon after. She was a mess, clinging onto your waist like you were gonna die. “Y/n! You could’ve died!” 

You laughed, and patted her head, running your finger into her hair like she was some dog to calm her down. “I’m fine, sorry for worrying you.” 

“Damn right!” Connie jumped in, crossing his arms as he tried to be intimidating. “You were so limp! Mikasa was even worried for a second when she carried you.”

You blinked, looking up at Mikasa as she hide her face with her scarf while looking away. You thought Annie had carried you since she was the only one with you when you first woke up. “I was worried. I’m glad you’re fine now.” 

“Thank you, Mikasa. Thank all of you for saving me...” You said towards everyone, watching as Jean and Eren hid behind everyone else. “Eren. Jean. Thank you. You risked your own lives to save me, you idiots, but thank you again. I’m glad you guys didn’t get hurt.”

Jean scoffed, pointing at the bandage on the right side of his cheek. “I was shot.” He corrected, remembering how he had tried to run away after Eren tried to fight back against the thieves. He wasn’t proud of it but he couldn’t really do anything else.

You raised your eyes browns at him, glaring. “Would you like some medical attention? You really seem to be in pain.” You said sarcastically, making him roll his eyes.

Eren smiled, happy that you were back to being yourself. “I wasn’t going to run away. I had to get you back, even if you said to run.”

You huffed, a smile playing on your lips. “I know, you stubborn fool. Thank you.” You hugged Sasha tightly, she was still clinging onto you like you were some rag doll. 

A few seconds later Armin and Annie walked in, both quiet as ever. Annie’s eyes lit as she saw you smiling, loving how cute you looked. Even though your hair was slightly messy, and you looked so tired. She was happy that you looked happy. 

Armin walked towards Mikasa, standing close to her as he looked at you. “How’d you like the book?” He asked, referring to  _ Close to Paradise _ . It was on your bedside, placed down on the chapter that you had left on when everyone came in. 

You smiled. “I’m loving it. I might need more books since I’m almost finished with it.” 

“I can get you more, i’m just glad you liked it.”

Everyone talked for what seemed like hours, Mikasa even chimed in from time to time. Eren and Jean were the loudest, as always while everyone listened and continued to add more to the conversation. Sasha and Connie did stupid little things that made you laugh, even like acting like animals.

Annie just leaned again the wall, close to where your bed was, listening to everyone. She stayed behind once everyone had left once lunch was over. She locked the door behind them and joined in next to you on the bed. 

You moved down so you could place your head on her shoulder. “What about training?” You questioned, closing your eyes. You felt tired again.

“I’ll be fine. He won’t notice. Plus, i’d rather be here with you.” She mumbled, closing her eyes. 

“I know you would, because training sucks and i’m more entertaining.” You teased, hiding your face in her neck when she moved down from leaning again the bed post. You hand moved to her stomach, the fabric of her hoodie under your cold fingers.

“You should feel lucky that i was even here when Mikasa was in here.” Annie mumbled, finally getting warm from cuddling with you. She didn’t really like her that much.

You chuckled, running your fingers up and down her hoodie. “I don’t understand why you try to avoid her. I feel like you guys would be great friends.”

“Friends? That’s rich.” 

You groaned, stopping your movements and ripping your face away from her neck. You raised your eyebrow at her, but she kept her eyes closed. You rolled your eyes at her. “This is why you have no friends.” 

She opened one of her eyes, looking at you with a playful smile on her lips. “Ouch. No friends? What am i ever gonna do?” 

You slapped her arm, making her huff at you. You moved to where you sat on her stomach, grabbing her chin so she could look at you. Your hand moved to her cheeks, squishing her lips together. “For someone who acts so mature, you act like such a kid sometimes.” 

“Doesn’t that make you pedophile?” She questioned, talking with her lips still being smooshed by your hand. 

You laughed, removing your hand from her face. “I think you’re older than me. You were born on March 22nd, 833. I was born (your birthday), 834. If anything you’re the pedophile.” 

She rolled her eyes, keeping her hands by her sides as she continued to look up at you. “I don’t think we’re using that word right. We’re gonna be 16 by next year.”

“I hate that you’re right.” You replied, looking up the ceiling, sticking close to her side.

“God, you’re such a kid.” She couldn’t help but smile, feeling happy about being with you like this.

“Pedophile.”

“Shut up already.”

** - **

“Annie,” You whined, trying to get away from the shorter girl, who had been following you around since the incident from 3 weeks ago. You were finally able to leave the medical ward but you had to be cautious whenever you were training. “I’m fine! I can walk around without a chaperone.”

“I’m not following you. You just happen to be going in the same direction as me.” Annie replied cooly, hanging a bit behind you as you tried to find your friends. You were walking around the whole training camp, the mud coating your boots as you looked for them.

It rained for 2 days straight, you would think training would be cancelled but nope! You still had to train on the muddy ground. You almost broke your neck because of how slippery it was.

Where could your friends even be in this weather?

You stopped, moving to the side so that she could walk ahead of you. But she stopped, glaring at you. You smiled innocently. “As you were, my lady.”

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. She couldn’t even reply because Sasha and Connie started walking towards you two, Bertholdt, Reiner, Marco, and Jean walking behind them. Sasha and Connie were both holding something behind them, trying to sneak up on Annie.

“Oh, Annie!? We’ve got a present for you!” Connie chimed behind her, finally holding two frogs in his hands. Sasha followed in suit, instead she was holding giant bugs.

Annie turned around, presumably freaked out by the size the creatures. She walked away, dragging you with her but you stayed put. She hid behind you, using you as a shield against the two. 

You looked at the frogs, intrigued by how huge they were. Connie and Sasha held the bugs and frogs over your head, trying to get to Annie that was still behind you.

“Connie, that’s disgusting. Sasha if you touch me i’ll break your arm.” Annie warned, pushing you towards the two and taking a few steps back.

Sasha and Connie pouted, looking at each-other before smirking. You stepped away from the two, realizing how close the bugs were to your face. You looked over and Annie and glared. 

Connie grinned mischievously. “You won’t do anything if y/n’s here.” 

Sasha nodded, both of them walking towards Annie menacing. Annie sped walked ahead, basically running away from your two friends who were chasing after her. You let out a laugh at the them. 

An arm wrapped around your shoulders, you looked up seeing Jeans face. “I’m surprised that she’s afraid of bugs.” 

You nudged him. “Of course she is, she’s not emotionless.” 

Marco nodded, thinking back to the moments where he saw her doing something completely different in secret. “Have you seen how she gets when y/n brings her sweets? She’s surprisingly really cute. Right, Bertholdt?” 

Reiner laughed while bertholdt blushed, looking down at the ground as you walked towards the mess hall, the boys following behind you. You looked over at him, seeing that stupid little smile, his cheeks were pink and was playing with his hand that showed he definitely had a crush on her.

You were definitely jealous. 

“Why don’t you just tell her, bertholdt?” You faked a smile. Maybe if he told her she could turn her down gently and he could move on. Annie likes you, she’s made it clear how much she cares for you. The light touches and she holds onto you tightly is enough to convince you of that.

Reiner laughed again, wrapping his arm around bertholdt, bringing him down so he could mess with his hair. “He won’t do it. He’s too scared to tell her how he feels, it’s been like this for years.”

Jean scoffed, a smile on his lips. “Why don’t you just tell her? It can’t be that hard. I even bet she’d like you back. You two are basically the same, except you’re more friendly.” 

“You’re one to talk. You become a stuttering mess when Mikasa’s around.” You teased, jabbing him in the gut. Jean blushed too, pulling away from you to hide his face with his one hand. You, Reiner and Marco laughed at them.

Reiner looked at you, moving behind jean so he could look at you. “What about you, y/n? You got a crush on anyone?” 

You couldn’t tell them that you also have a crush on Annie, a girl. You had to lie to them. You shrugged, looking at the floor and scratching the back of your neck. “I haven’t really thought about it. All the boys here are jerks.” You lied, walking a little faster. 

“Woah! What are you talking about? We’re all nice.” Jean jumped in, visibly offended by what you had said. 

You scoffed. “Seriously? In the nicest way possible, you’re an asshole.” 

Jean glared at you, but you didn’t take back what you said. He looked around at the rest of the boys who looked away, refusing to add onto what you said. You laughed, waving goodbye to look for Annie. Who knows where she could’ve been, or if Connie and Sasha were still chasing after her. 

You checked the mess hall, the lounging area, the training field and even the bathrooms, and you couldn’t find her. But you continued to look for her, asking if other cadets have seen her but they all shook their heads and walked towards the mess hall.

It was dinner time and Annie was missing. It’s not that you were hungry and in a hurry to go eat, it was just that Annie had disappeared without you again. You couldn’t help but feel worried about her like always. 

You walked towards your cabin that you shared with Annie and a couple more girls. You were even lucky enough to share the top bunk with Annie. You opened the door, finding the girl changing into another hoodie. You looked away, closing the door behind you which caused her to look up at you. 

You covered your eyes, turning away from her. “So this is where you were hiding. Did Sasha and Connie scare you?” You asked, a teasing smile on your lips. 

She could tell you were teasing her, so all she did was blush, quickly changing into her hoodie. Sasha threw the bug at her back and it managed to cling onto her hoodie for a long time. She almost had a heart attack when that happened. 

You can’t really blame her, some bugs are just _that_ creepy. She shuddered at the thought of the bugs crawling onto her skin. She pushed you away playfully once she was done, making you laugh. “Let’s go.”

You nodded, following behind her as she led the way. 

You were happy that Annie seemed to be opening up more, even acting more openly around others. She used more emotion, along with voicing her opinions on stuff she didn’t like.

You really liked how things were going.

But there was still the problem of next year. You frowned just thinking about it. She would be far away from you. You were sure she would be one of the top ten, and go into the Military Police. 

You stopped, pulling on her uniform. She stopped, looking back at you. “What’s wrong?” She asked quietly, seeing the look on your face. 

You collected your thoughts, feeling stupid for thinking about something like this. You guys were teenagers, it wouldn’t matter in the future. You faked a smile, now leading the way. “Nothing, i was just thinking about how someone as tough as you can be afraid of bugs.” You teased, you weren’t serious or anything, you just thought it was funny.

She followed after you, glaring. She would’ve noticed you were lying if you weren’t talking about bugs. It had distracted her. “Bugs are creepy. Have you not seen centipedes?” A shiver was sent down her back, making her skin crawl at the thought.

“They’re actually pretty cool.” You grinned, looking back at her. You were kidding, they were indeed pretty creepy. 

“I hate you.”


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting another chapter because why not!? It’s short but gives you an idea on your back story. Anyways, enjoy! bloom <3

Hour: ** 17:55pm **

** -A couple of days later- **

You looked up at the sky, watching the clouds shift around the sky slowly, also watching the sky change colours. You, Jean and Marco had decided to leave the large lounge, going to your favourite spot. It was a large tree with grass surrounding the tree, it wasn’t too far which was even better.

Marco looked at your face, trying to understand what Sasha and Krista had brought up to him. They had told him that you were having strange dreams. Sometimes they would wake up to check up on you, seeing you in a cold sweat and crying.

Annie was worried about you too, since this had been happening since the incident a couple of weeks ago. You were still having those dreams and she didn’t know how to help you. So, she stayed quiet trying to figure it out. She didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable at all, so she decided against asking you until you were ready.

She then overheard Sasha and Krista talking to Marco, and that’s when she knew you were in good hands. They were better at this than her.

“Hey, y/n?” Marco asked, looking genuinely worried about you. You hummed, looking back at him. Jean kept his eyes closed, still leaning against the tree next to you while Marco was sitting up on the grass a few feet away from you two. “Can i ask you something?” 

You nodded. “Hit me.” 

Jean raised his hand and punched your arm pretty hard, surprising you. You clutched your arm in pain, glaring at him. “Not literally! I meant hit me with the question, that  _ was _ directed at Marco!” You hissed, punching him back. 

“Whoops,” Jean shrugged with a laugh, rubbing his arm that was sure to bruise. You have man hands, that’s for sure. Marco did laugh or do anything, he looked down. Jean noticed, a frown made its way onto his face. “Marco? What’s up?”

You looked back at Marco, wondering the same thing. “Y/n? Did something happen to you? You keep having those dreams.” Marco uttered, remembering what Sasha and Krista had told him. 

You paused.  _ Those dreams?  _ “What? How did you...?” 

“Doesn’t matter, but I know you are. I’m worried about you. I want you to trust me enough to tell me what happened.” Marco expressed, looking back up at you. Jean stayed quiet, knowing that this was serious. 

You looked down, trying to remember everything that had happened to you when you were a kid, way before joining the cadet core. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?” 

He nodded, holding up his pinky for you. You smiled softly, wrapping your pinky around his. Jean scooted over, wrapping his pinky against yours as well. “I’m worried too.”

You smiled at your friends. Jean was such an asshole when everyone else was around but when it was just you three, he was the sweetest guy ever. Marco had always been this way. 

You trusted them.

“My parents were dirt poor farmers when i was still living with them. They didn’t have much, even the things they sold weren’t worth that much for their buyers.” You started, reminiscing about those days. You still remember it all, despite wanted to burn those memories away. 

Marco’s and Jean’s eyes were trained on you as you started to explain. Marco even scooted closer in order to comfort you if needed. 

“But one day these new merchants brought their wagon from a different district. They had a bunch of stuff, they were even okay with trading if an item was good enough. They saw me, and made a large offer to my parents. which they agreed to... It was worth more than me.”

Your eyes were glued to the grass, remembering your parents selling you without any hesitation to some sketchy men. You swallowed the lump in your throat. “I was with them for like, 2 years i think? I was being transported from this old ware-house in Shingashina to the royal capital with some other kids like me. John, who was one of the thieves was there, helping and acting like some creep. Apparently, we were being sold off to some rich guy who liked kids instead of prostitutes.”

Marco reached for your hand and squeezed, whileJean was rubbing your back as he glared at the ground. He hated that there were people like that sick fuck, and he hates that you were so affected by it. 

“They had left us in the ware-house for a couple of days, and by the 7th day the colossal titan broke through the gate. We were pretty close to the breach, so when a piece of the wall landed on the ware-house, creating an exit for us, we left. I saw those titans up close, and that’s when i realized that if it weren’t for them i could’ve been ruined by some sick old men. I was sure that John was killed. At least he should’ve been. but he’s still out there. He got away again.” 

“Y/n...” Marco whispered, hugging you, Jean joined in after. “Once i’m in the Military Police, i’m going to put him away for good. I’ll make him pay.”

You nodded, a smile on your lips as they hugged you tighter. “I’d like to see that. Jean. Marco, thank you for listening. I feel like a boulder was lifted off my shoulders.” You wiped the tear from your eye, hiding yourself in the hug.

You loved them so much. You’re glad they were here for you. 

“You have to join the Military Police with us! We don’t want you to die to by some titan.” Jean insisted, pulling away so he could grab you by your shoulders. Marco nodded eagerly, agreeing along with what Jean said.

You looked away. “Guys, I can’t.” 

“Like hell you can’t! Are you serious about the scouts? It’s not worth your life!” Jean argued, he didn’t want you to die out there. He didn’t want to find out about it like that from the Military Police, he just didn’t want you to die at all. 

You looked back up at him, seeing the raw emotion from your friend. “Jean, it’s not that easy. I can’t join the Military Police because i won’t be in the top ten. Plus, i want to see the outside world. I have to.” 

“What about Annie?” Marco questioned quietly.

You furrowed your eye-brows at him.  _How did he know about Annie?_ “What..? What about her?”

“Ymir told us about you two. She said she saw you guys kiss once.” Marco explained, feeling dirty for trying to get you to join the Military Police by using Annie, but it felt like the only way. 

You blinked, you sighed loudly into your hands. “Fucking Ymir. Of course she did.” You didn’t care that they knew, you only cared about the way they found out. 

Jean stepped in, trying to avoid talking about Annie since it seemed like you didn’t like it. “Look, we just don’t want you to get yourself killed by those things. They haven’t disappeared, or anything like that, which begs the question; where did they come from and what are they after? You can’t go out there. What’s so different about the outside world from inside the walls?”

“That’s exactly why i want to go out there! We don’t know what’s out there, we don’t even know if there something else for us to see! We’ve been stuck inside these walls for years! Haven’t you questioned anything about the way we’re living?” You asked, to which they shook their head as a no. “Seriously?”

Jean sighed, messing with his light brown hair. “Alli’ve ever wanted is to have a simple life in the interior, the Military Police will get me that. I’m not crazy enough to care about where we came from. I just want a wife, a kid and to die happily.” 

You gave him a judgmental look, sighing in the process. “That’s sweet and all, but it can’t be like that for everyone else. I just want to see what’s out there, as selfish as it sounds. I would do anything to escape the walls.” 

Jean sighed, scratching his head. “Alright, if you say so. Just promise us you won’t die?”

You nodded with a smile, pulling out your pinky for them. “As long as you guys don’t die either.” The three of you wrapped your pinkies together, laughing at each other. 

“What happens if we break the promise?” Marco asked curiously, his pinky still wrapped around yours and jean’s pinky. 

You and jean looked at each other, shrugging. “Don’t know. We didn’t think that far.” 

“Alright, let’s just promise not to die. Ready?” Marco smiled, you three moved your hands up and down with your pinkies still wrapped around each other’s.

“Promise.”

“Promise!”

“Pinky promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also, should i make a wattpad and post these on there too? i feel like using wattpad would be easier to use 🤔

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comment if you have anything you want me to add or change and i’ll try my best!


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